gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì rạng

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

  • gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng

Etymology

Compare Chinese 近朱者赤，近墨者黑 (cận chu giả xích, cận mặc giả hắc).

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ɣən˨˩ mɨk̚˧ˀ˨ʔ tʰi˨˩ ɗɛn˧˧ ɣən˨˩ ɗɛn˨˩ tʰi˨˩ zaːŋ˧ˀ˨ʔ]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ɣəŋ˧˧ mɨk̚˨ˀ˨ʔ tʰɪj˧˧ ɗɛŋ˧˧ ɣəŋ˧˧ ɗɛŋ˧˧ tʰɪj˧˧ ʐaːŋ˨ˀ˨ʔ]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ɣəŋ˨˩ mɨk̚˨˩˨ tʰɪj˨˩ ɗɛŋ˧˧ ɣəŋ˨˩ ɗɛŋ˨˩ tʰɪj˨˩ ɹaːŋ˨˩˨]

Phrase

gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì rạng

  1. (literally) being around ink makes you black, being around a lamp makes you bright
  2. (figuratively) being around bad people makes you bad, being around good people makes you good
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